The process of brine-curing cucumbers to prepare pickles is long known and widely used. For example, according to a conventional process, cucumbers are brined by being placed in a tank with a salt brine solution, and are fermented into pickles in 14 to 28 days. Cucumbers ferment naturally in brine that has a salt content of around 8%. A higher salt content of about 8 to 16% may be provided for storage, for example to avoid freezing in the winter. Fermented pickles can remain in the brine for months or even years. However, such high brine salt content necessitates a “desalting” step prior to packaging and shipping, to reduce the salt level to about 3 to 4% by weight so that the product remains preserved while being edible.
Previous processes for desalting pickles generally have utilized large heated water tanks, into which pickles are introduced and air is bubbled to agitate and move the pickles. Such conventional process is disadvantageous in requiring a substantial amount of time to complete the desalting process. For example, treatment of whole pickles requires 24 to 48 hours in 110° F. water to achieve desired final parameters. The treatment time is reduced for chips and relish because of their higher surface area, but is still substantial at about 35-40 minutes in a batch process.
Further, while the water in the tank can be drained and replaced to speed up the process, the removed water needs be treated prior to discharge to adjust pH, remove solids and possibly treat for chlorides. A pickle desalting process also necessarily results in chloride discharge, and proper disposal of chloride further increases manufacturing costs of producing pickles.
Because of these disadvantages, there have been attempts to improve or eliminate the desalting process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,845,748 to Hey discloses treating brine cured pickles with a caustic solution of potassium hydrate, caustic soda, or other caustic alkali solution to render the outer skin of the cucumbers more permeable and therefore more receptive to desalting and subsequent introduction of any flavoring liquors. However, the pickles must be thoroughly rinsed after treatment with caustic solution to remove all traces of lye. Thus, while this process may speed up desalting, the process is also more complicated than the conventional desalting using only water, since it requires additional treatment steps with a separate solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,929 to Kingsley discloses a rapid, fermentation-free pickling process that uses a specific pickling powder composition of acidulants, spices, flavors, salt and certain chloride and calcium salts. This one-step process is described to achieve the desired salt level without requiring a desalting process. However, the process disclosed in this patent is of limited use because only a specific pickling composition can be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,513 to Hackl et al. discloses a method for curing pickle stock without the conventional fermentation process by immersing the pickle stock in a curing liquid and subjecting it to alternative vacuum and pressure treatment steps. While addressing chloride discharge problems of the conventional pickle production, this patent also does not provide any disclosure for improving the desalting process.
Thus, what is needed is an improved desalting process which reduces the process time and which can be used with any pickling method. Further, a pickle desalting process that can reduce chlorine discharge is desired.